The present invention relates to floor treating machines, particularly to scrubbers with squeegees. Scrubbers lay down a cleaning solution at the front of the machine and brushes located generally towards the front of the machine proceed to scrub the floor with the cleaning solution. A squeegee, typically V-shaped in plan view, follows at the rear of the machine and wipes solution off the floor. Through its shape, it funnels the solution towards a vacuum port wherein solution is drawn up and deposited in a recovery tank on the machine.
One problem with prior art scrubbers is that the squeegee has to be quite wide, sometimes wider than the machine. When it hits walls, articles of furniture or the like, it tends to damage them.
Another problem is that when one turns the corner, the squeegee often does not trail properly behind the machine, thereby leaving puddles of water on the floor at the corners.
Yet another problem is insuring even pressure of the squeegee against the floor. This becomes particularly difficult to deal with when the squeegee travels over deviations in the floor.
Prior art squeegee mechanisms are typically complicated and often do not provide solutions to the above problems. Some provide solutions to only some of the problems while ignoring others completely. Thus, Cain, U.S. Pat. No. 3,209,716 issued Dec. 13, 1966 provides a universal joint to join the squeegee support arm to the machine to facilitate proper trailing, but does not attempt to insure equal pressure of the squeegee on the floor and does not prevent the squeegee blade from getting hung up on a corner and damaging woodwork or the like. The patent to Arones, U.S. Pat. No. 3,065,490 is typical of rather complicated prior art mechanisms which keep pressure on the squeegee through some type of spring. Daniels, et. al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,206,787 which issued Sept. 21, 1965 utilizes a spring to bias the squeegee mechanism upwardly, but provides no satisfactory mechanism for applying downward pressure on the squeegee.
Little, et. al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,277,511 which issued Oct. 11, 1966 and Burgoon, U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,506 which issued Feb. 8, 1977 also illustrate other complicated prior art squeegee linkage mechanisms. None really solve all the problems discussed above.